November 14 - 21

What an unusual couple of weeks we have had! Due to Veteran’s Day and snow days, we only went to school for 2 days last week, but we still learned a lot! We started talking about Thanksgiving on Wednesday and learned the meaning of words like “feast” and “thankful”. We began creating a chart about what each student is thankful for to make that idea of “thankful” more personal for the students. Since there was new snow on the ground, we spent a lot of time playing outside and exploring snow both last week and this week. On Wednesday night, we had a wonderful Harvest Dinner with delicious food and time to socialize with other preschool families! After the long weekend, we came back for 2.5 days and learned more about thanksgiving. We finished our chart and used it to create a class book called “We Are Thankful.” We talked about what it means to be authors and illustrators as each student wrote words and drew illustrations on their page. Next week, we will finish up our book and begin an “author study” of Jan Brett. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sledding!

Sliding :)

Very focused stacking 

A puppet show

Exploring force

Whoops!

Even teachers have fun in the snow!

Our new see-saw

Dress-up play

Ms. Rice tried belly sliding too...haha!

Creating a home for her stuffies

Amazing block structure

More sledding

November 5 - 9

This week, we learned more about community helpers and their vehicles. On Monday, we learned about fire safety, firefighters, and fire trucks. We read stories, made firefighter hats, and practiced stopping, dropping, and rolling. On Tuesday, two firefighters came to visit us with their fire trucks! We got to go outside and look at the firetrucks while the firefighters showed us all of the secret compartments and tools inside. Each child also got a chance to go up into the firetruck and see inside! When we were done looking at the firetrucks, we went inside with one of the firefighters and he showed us his fire-fighting gear. He put on his boots, pants, jacket, air tank backpack, mask, and helmet and then let the children get used to the way that he looked and ask him questions. We learned a lot about firefighters' jobs and I think it was a very memorable and exciting experience for the students! On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we learned about ambulances and police cars and the community helpers that drive them. The students continued to have fun dressing up as community helpers in dramatic play, pretending to be construction workers and firefighters in the block center, and reading all sorts of different stories about emergency vehicles in the library center. Next week, we will start learning about Thanksgiving!

Looking at the fire trucks!

Showing the students the tools and what they do

Each student got to go up into the truck and look around

We had so much fun looking at the fire trucks!

Watching our firefighter friend put on his gear

Finished hundred's board!

Aven's finished teens board (the second number was 12, it just lost it's 2 before the picture)

Some firefighters/construction workers working on a house with their tools

Ms. Elena playing with some friends

Amazing block structures

Playing hide-and-seek

Experimenting with magnets

We love having big kid helpers!

Playing in the rice-filled sensory table

More outstanding block structures!

October 29 - November 1

This week was lots of fun! We read a bunch of silly Halloween stories on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for the holiday. On Wednesday (Halloween), we got to dress up in our costumes and have a dress-up parade to the Fairlee Library! The kids' costumes were very cute, and even the teachers dressed up (Mr. Matt's giraffe costume was especially popular). When we got there, Mrs. Samantha was waiting for us dressed as Winifred Sanderson from the movie Hocus Pocus! She read us some very fun Halloween stories and then we got to play Halloween games that she had set up for us! First, the kids got to throw spider-shaped rings at decorative cobweb to see if they could make the spiders stick. Next, we threw beanbags to see if we could get them into the mouths jack-o-lanterns. After that, the students got to pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern. The fourth game was to throw eyeball-printed ping pong balls into little witch's cauldrons. Finally, the students got to pop balloons that were in the shape of a pumpkin using a dart (with heavy supervision of course). When the balloons popped, there were glow sticks inside! Mrs. Samantha even gave the students some treats to take home with them! It was so much fun! On Thursday, we were back to talking about Community Helpers. We read a story about demolition and construction, and the children continued to dress up as community helpers in the Dramatic Play center throughout the week. Next week, we will be visited by a firefighter and a fire truck on Tuesday at 9:00! We will learn all about fire trucks, fire safety, and firefighters on Monday and Tuesday. Throughout the rest of the week, we will learn about other rescue vehicles like police cars, rescue boats, and ambulances. It should be another exciting week in preschool!

A reversal of roles:)

An artist hard at work

Getting ready for the Dress-Up Parade

The closest thing I could get to a group picture in all the excitement!

The parade

Mrs. Samantha reading a Halloween story during Story Time

Pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern

Popping the balloons to find the surprise inside